Egg-candler.



If FINNEY.

v EGG CANDLER.

APPLICATION FILED JULYI3,19I6.

Patented Apr. 24, 1917.

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EGG CANDLER.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 13 1916- '1,223,%8. Patented Apr. 24, 1917.

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rinrrnn e raans PATENT nnren.

JAMES J. FINNEY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO INTERNATIONAL EGG CANDLER CORPORATION, OF BEATRICE, NEBRASKA, A CORPORATION OF NEBRASKA.

EGG-CANDLER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 24, 1917.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMns J. FINNEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Egg-Candlers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to egg candlers, and the general object of the invention is to provide simple and eflicient mechanism for picking up and candling a considerable number of eggs at a time.

More specifically, it is my purpose to provide a simplified mechanism for operating the wire loops which cooperate with the filler to support the eggs. Another purpose is to provide convenient and comparatively powerful hand operated means for operating the wire loops. Another contributory object is to provide a construction dispensing to a great extent with pivot pins and the i like.

I accomplish my objects by the construction illustrated in accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view, showing my invention in use.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the device.

Fig. 3 is an end elevation thereof.

Fig. 4 is similar to Fig. 3 but shows a changed position of the parts.

Fig. 5 is a sectional detail on the line 55, Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail showing one of the rock shafts and the manner of connecting it to its operating lever.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

Viewed in its general aspect, my invention is embodied in a device which may be aptly termed a pick-up, the same being adapted to be let down into a paste-board filler containing eggs, and then upon proper manipulation, to lift the eggs and the filler out of the crate and place them upon the deck of a suitable box or cam having a light within which shines up through the eggs, and thus reveals their condition.

In the form selected to illustrate the invention, the cross bar 1 has downwardly extending ends 2 at the lower end of which are fastened two parallel side bars 3. These side bars support a number of rock shafts 4:, to which the wire loops 5 are fastened. These loops normally stand upright as shown in Fig. 3, and the parts are so proportioned that when the loops are upright they will, when the device is lowered, slide down adjacent to the walls or partitions in the filler 6. Of course the number of rock shafts and loops may be varied, but as eggs are usually shipped in crates having fillers which accommodate 36 eggs, my device is usually made of corresponding capacity, there being one loop for every egg.

The rock shafts are operated by levers 3 which, in the preferred form, have integral tongues 9 which enter slots 10 as best shown in Fig. 6. The end of the tongue is riveted over to hold the parts assembled, and the lever is configurated to conform to and abut the sides of the shaft. This construction affords great rigidity and at the same time is very simple and dispenses with separate fastening devices. At the free end, the levers are rounded so as to form heads 11 which fit into slots 12 provided in the lever operated bar 13. The bar 13 extends crosswise upon the rock shafts somewhat above them, and is made of a heavier gage of metal than the levers. The preferred relative thickness is suggested in Fig. 5, and one of the advantages is that it avoids danger of the head 11 falling out sidewise and becoming disconnected from the bar. Another advantage is that the bar is stiff and rigid, and hence, will stand a good deal of abuse without permitting the device to get out of order.

It will be observed that the connection between the levers and their operating bar is a mere interlocking connection, there being no pivot pins or similar separate fastening elements. In the design shown the levers are straight on the back and curved on the bottom. The slots 12 in the bar 13 are straight at the upper edge, and hence, when the straight upper edge descends upon the straight back of the lever, the bar is arrested in its downward movement; in other words, the connection between the bar and levers is such that the levers form means for limiting the downward movement of the bar. The bar is normally pressed downward by a spring 15, which encircles the plunger 16, which is fastened at its lower end to the bar and projects up through'the cross bar 1.

It is desirable to employ a bracket 17 on the under side of the bar 1, as best shown in Fig. 2, this bracket forming a guide for the plunger, 16. The plunger is operated by a thumb lever 18, which is pivoted to the plunger at point 19 and, by preference, has an anti-friction roller 20 which travels upon the top of the cross bar 1. This roller is mounted at the lower end of a dependent arm 21, which forms a fulcrum. When the thumb lever is raised and lowered the roller travels upon the top of the cross bar, and hence, it may be said that the lever has a shifting fulcrum.

The pick-up device which embodies my present invention is, as above stated, designed to be used in connection with a suitable candling box or can, which in the present drawings, is indicated by the box 22 shown in Fig. 1. This may assume various forms, and therefore need not be here described.

In operation, the device normally maintains the condition shown in Figs. 2 and 3. When it is desired to test a crate of eggs, the operator grasps the device in one hand, placing his fingers under the cross bar 1 and this thumb upon the top of the lever 18. By placing one or two fingers on one side of the plunger 16 and the remaining finger or fingers on the other side, the device will balance handily and can be used with very little exertion on the part of the operator. When the operator has thus grasped the device, he lowers it into the uppermost filler in the crate until the wire loops have reached the floor of the filler, the loops passing between the side of the eggs and the adjacent partition. He then with his thumb depresses the lever 18 which causes the lever operating bar 13 to rise and swing the levers and loops to the position shown in Fig. at, the loops cooperating with the partitions of the filler to support the eggs. The operator then raises the device, and in doing so lifts both the eggs and filler from the crate. He then places the whole upon the deck of the box, as indicated in Fig. 1, whereupon it can immediately be seen whether the eg s are in proper condition or not.

By proceeding in this manner, the operator may test the eggs with great rapidity and with no danger of breaking them. When the eggs have been tested, they and the filler are deposited in the proper crate and then released by simply releasing the lever 18 and lifting the pick-up device out of the filler.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In an egg candling device, the combination of a frame, rock shafts pivotally mounted in said frame, egg engaging loops fastened to said shafts, levers for operating said shafts, said levers having rounded heads at the free end, a slotted bar having slots for receiving the heads of said levers, and means mounted on the frame for operating said slotted bar.

2. In an egg candling device, the combination of a frame, rock shafts pivotally mounted in said frame, egg engaging loops fastened to said shafts, levers for operating said shafts, a slotted bar interfitting with the ends of said levers for operating them, a plunger connected to said slotted bar for operating it, said plunger being guided by said frame, and a lever for operating said plunger, said lever having a fulcrum which is shiftable upon said frame.

3. An egg candling device having a pair of side bars, a cross bar connecting them, rock shafts mounted in said side bars, egg engaging loops fastened to said shafts, levers for operating said shafts, a vertically movable bar for operating said levers, a plunger for operating said vertically movable bar, a lever connected to said plunger for operating it, said lever having a fulcrum arm between its ends, and said fulcrum arm beingsupported by and traveling upon said cross bar.

4. An egg lifter having a frame, rock shafts journaled therein, egg engaging loops fastened to said shafts, levers for operating said shafts and a manually operated bar for operating said levers, the bar and the levers having interfitting connections in which the parts are arranged in the same plane, one part having an open ended slot and the cooperating part having a portion projecting endwise into said open ended slot and said parts being consequently readily assemblable by either relative sidewise movement or by relative endwise movement when the structure is in course of manufacture and dispensing with fastening devices of any kind.

5. An egg lifter having a frame, rock shafts j ournaled therein, egg engaging loops fastened to said shafts, levers for operating said shafts and a manually operated bar having open ended slots for receiving the free ends of said levers, .said levers lying in the same plane as the bar and the free ends of the levers projecting into the open ends of said slots.

6. An egg lifter having a frame, rock shafts journaled therein, egg engaging loops fastened to said shafts, levers for operating said shafts and a manually operated bar having open ended slots for receiving the free ends of said levers, said levers lying in the same plane as the bar and the free ends of the levers projecting into the open ends of said slots, and the bar being appreciably thicker than the levers for preventing the 7. An egg candling device having a frame,

5 rock shafts mounted therein, Wire loops fastened to said shafts levers for operating said shafts, a slotted bar for engaging the free end 01' the sald lever, a spring mounted on said frame for depressing said bar v and manually operated means for raising said bar against the force of the spring, the bar engaging the back of the levers so as to limit the extent to which said bar may descend.

In Witness whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name.

JAMES J. FINNEY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained. for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

